** Germany’s industrial holding Koerber AG is considering a sale or stock market listing of its machine tools business worth roughly 700 million euros ($829 million), people close to the matter said.

** British insurer Hyperion has hired Morgan Stanley to sound out financial investors for a minority stake sale, sources told Reuters, in a deal that could value the London-based firm at more than 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion).

** A group of investors including buyout firm Apollo and pension fund Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is bidding for coal assets put up for sale by mining giant Rio Tinto, which could fetch $2 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

** Canada’s Metro Inc said it would sell a major portion of its stake in Alimentation Couche Tard Inc to fund its C$4.5 billion acquisition of pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group.

** Mantra Group Ltd agreed to a A$1.18 billion ($920 million) buyout from French hotel company Accor SA , a deal which will create the biggest hotel group in Australia where tourism is rising sharply.

** Chinese firms including high-end equipment maker Jiangsu Hagong Intelligent Robot Co plan to bid for German industrial company FFT, likely to be valued at up to $712 million, two people familiar with the matter said.

** Lufthansa agreed to buy parts of insolvent German airline Air Berlin for around 210 million euros ($248.72 million), Air Berlin said.

** Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to buy Zurich Insurance’s UK workplace pensions and savings business as it expands its retirement business, the bank said.

** U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management Corp has raised its stake in Japan’s Hitachi Kokusai Electric to 8.59 percent from 7.11 percent, a regulatory filing showed, one of several such hikes since it first disclosed a stake in the firm last month.

** South Korea’s embattled Lotte Group said several firms have expressed interest in acquiring its Lotte Mart stores in China and that is aiming for a sale by the end of this year.

** Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings said it is considering selling all or part of its 19.99 percent stake in Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd, its latest divestment from China’s beer industry as it seeks growth in Europe and other Asian markets.

** Britain’s Carillion Plc confirmed that it had received proposals from more than one counterparty for the possible acquisition of its UK healthcare business.

** Alteri Investors has agreed to buy Dutch toy store chain Intertoys from Blokker Holding for an undisclosed sum, the Dutch company said.

** Bharti Airtel Ltd is acquiring the Tata conglomerate’s consumer mobile business, the two companies said, in a deal that gives India’s top wireless player a major subscriber base boost for virtually free, while stemming the bleed for Tata from a loss making venture.

** Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to buy Dutch-based NewMotion, the owner of one of Europe’s largest electric vehicle charging networks, marking the company’s first deal in electric mobility as demand for cleaner vehicles is expected to soar.

** MMG Ltd, the international mining unit of state-owned China Minmetals Corp, has become China’s preferred developer of overseas projects and is looking at acquisitions beyond its core strengths of copper and zinc, MMG’s chief executive said. (Compiled by Arunima Banerjee and Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru)